The Car Connection Expert Review

Authenticity is a hazy thing. Harleys are authentic
Americana—and so are the accountants and
caterers that ride them to Sturgis and Daytona.

Likewise, you don’t doubt the
heritage of an RCA TV. It’s Little Nipper, man! The last RCA television was made
in the
U.S. about two decades ago. Oh,
well.

Saab these days is in an authentic
funk. Too small to survive on its purely Swedish appeal, the company’s had to go
foraging in the GM empire for plumper fare. The problem is, during its
50-odd-year history, Saab vehicles have been a little of everything—two-strokes
and four-strokes; hatchbacks, sedans and coupes; V-4s and V-6s and in-line
fours, turbos and normally aspirated; front- and all-wheel drive. Until recently
you pretty much knew a Saab was Swedish, but even that distinction got revoked
with the arrival of the Subaru-alike 9-2X sport wagon last
year.

The 9-7X, Saab’s first true
SUV, removes the Swedish aspect another half-turn around the globe in the
other direction, plunking the brand down in the middle of Moraine, Ohio, where
the 9-7X is built alongside the very similar mid-size SUVs sold by Chevrolet,
GMC and Buick. (Now, if you’re truly worried that Saab has totally lost
its cosmopolitan veneer, know that Trollhattan, Sweden, has never hosted an
Olympics or a Super Bowl and from Stockholm looks pretty much like
Moraine.)

Origins
aside

But enough about its origins. The
only real question that matters here is whether Saab’s improvements to GM’s
four-year-old SUV lineup are worthwhile and convincingly different enough to
warrant the Saab badge. The 9-7X, like the other GM utes, comes in two flavors.
There’s an in-line six edition with all-wheel drive; it puts out 290 hp, up from
270 in the original version of GM’s utterly charming in-line six. There’s also
the upline model outfitted with all-wheel drive and a 300-hp, 5.3-liter V-8.
Chalk another engine up to Saab history—it’s the first eight-cylinder the brand
ever has offered. It offers displacement on demand, for an eight-percent fuel
economy boost over a similar-sized V-8.

Either powerplant comes with a
four-speed automatic that snaps off shifts with the occasionally overzealous
authority of a small-town water commissioner. Most of the time it keeps its
power-hungry nature under control, but when it does push into lower gears the
engine – particularly the V-8 – makes an unhappy noise out back. Up front under
the hood it’s all dulcet tones and mechanical pleasantries, but in both vehicles
we drove, the exhaust tuning was in need of some more final tuning. With the V-8 engine, the 9-7X’s
towing capacity is 6500 lb.

There’s no rear-drive 9-7X
offered, and there’s also no low-range gear. But all-wheel drive is standard and
the crossover-type system is closest to that in the Buick Rainier. The Saab
version also gets a standard limited-slip differential, and big 18-inch wheels
and tires for lots of grip.

Saab says the 9-7X
is tuned to be more of a driver's vehicle than its American cousins. It uses a
uniquely tuned double A-arm front suspension with coil springs and a multi-link,
electronically controlled rear air suspension, a low ride height, thick front
stabilizer and stiff upper control arm bushings in the rear. Together with a
stiffened front section of the frame, a quicker 18.5:1 steering gear ratio is
designed to help improve steering precision and responsiveness.

The unchallenging roads we tackled
northeast of
Quebec
City couldn’t show off the
decently supple ride motions we know from the
Rainier and the GMC Envoy. We did notice some impact
harshness but a marked improvement in steering from other GM utes we’ve tried
recently. The big
Saab’s brakes are appropriately large—they’re also four-wheel vented discs with
front aluminum dual-piston calipers and four-wheel ABS. In all, the 9-7X felt so
closely akin to the other GM platform-mates, it might not pass a blindfold taste
test.

In matters of styling, the Saab
version of the GMT360 platform gets the cleanest nose and the sharpest rear-end
styling. The wagon back is lifted from the departed Olds Bravada, with different
blackout plastic for a similar pleasing effect. It is surprising just how
Saab-like the front end could be made, and the silhouette is just
fine.

Inside, the 9-7X wears handsome
dark leather with contrasting stitching, wood dash inserts, and the sideways,
flippy-outy Saab cupholder. It’s a nicely detailed treatment, with typically
Saab shapes. Interior room is fine, and the seating is state of the art—for
2002, which means no third row, no foldaway option, no legendary Swedish
cleverness at all. (How else do they get us to buy melamine bookshelves and
convince us they’re fabulous?)

If nothing else, the 9-7X is the best-equipped of
GM’s mid-size utes. The 9-7X comes with stability control, leather seats,
curtain airbags, a 275-watt Bose sound system with XM and a six-CD changer, and
a choice of a power moonroof or a rear-seat DVD entertainment
system.

But
the 9-7X really needs to be more than just another GM ute. In fact, it needs to
be something wholly closer to the Subaru Tribeca that, in fact, is supposed to
spawn a 9-6X version for Saab in about a year. This is a step off the
authenticity trail, not a step forward.

But then, Saab itself needs to be
more than just another GM product to have a fighting chance among the brand
clutter. There’s the airplane heritage—so why not build them like airplanes out
of aluminum, like Jaguar? Why isn’t this “intellectual” brand, with all its
highly educated buyers, at the cutting edge of hybrid and diesel technology? And
why can’t every Saab be faster than the 9-7X is?

The 9-7X stumbles in its quest to
be more Saab than GM. It’s simply too American SUV underneath to be Eurofied
into something nimbler. The formula has worked—the 9-2X fits seamlessly in the
Saab portfolio because it’s small, five-doored, swift and sure-footed. But the
9-7X is far less convincing. It’s a Saab truck, after all. And while it may
sell, it too visibly sells out—something Saab really cannot afford at
all.

An Great Vehicle but Not So Reliable

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The vehicle is great to drive and is very comfortable, I installed a K&N Filter Kit when I first bought it to give it more power and performance, it now has excellent power with the V-8 option 5.3i Vortec...
The vehicle is great to drive and is very comfortable, I installed a K&N Filter Kit when I first bought it to give it more power and performance, it now has excellent power with the V-8 option 5.3i Vortec Engine. The options that came with it are just right for us, we purchased it approximately two years ago from a Honda dealer that traded it in on a new Honda CRV, it had approximately 126,000 miles and all the reports on it came back good. It ran great at first but then started with the problems that were revealed on the internet that other's were having the same trouble with; drivers side window motor had to be replaced via a recall, needed a complete tune-up (original), fluids except oil all needed to be changed, starter completely malfunctioned, trouble with the headlights dimming and going off (finally recalled and now fighting it), front differential needed to be replaced along with actuator w/the all wheel drive unit, and I can not remember the rest. I hope that is it, I paid cash because at the time of purchase my son had just totaled my 06 Dodge Durango with the 5.7L Hemi (that is the only reason I purchased it new in 06). I paid $6900.00 for the 06 Saab in Oct 2013 and probably put about $5000.00 in it so far, I say again I hope that is it! I am on disability and can afford another or new vehicle, now at least I know what I got. I have read reviews lately for this vehicle and it is now rated one of the "10 worst". BE CAREFUL! Those reports you get do not show everything you should know. + More »

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April 14, 2015

For 2005 Saab 9-7X

One of the best cars we ever owned

Overall Rating

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Fuel Economy / MPG

Reliability

A very good car for the money the car is very Roomey plenty of cargo space